200 N.J. Dems press for vote on gay marriage

TRENTON -- Seeking to sway their party’s leaders with a sweeping show of support, more than 200 core Democrats sent a letter today urging the passage of a gay marriage law before the legislative session runs out.

The letter, initially signed by elected leaders, government workers, fundraisers and campaign staffers, also was signed by at least a thousand New Jerseyans after it was posted on MarriageEqualityNJ.com.

Mel Evans/The Associated PressA large crowd, some with signs, gathers at the New Jersey Statehouse Monday in Trenton in support of proposed legislation legalizing same sex marriage.

"We appreciate that this is a difficult issue for some state legislators. But marriage equality is an idea whose time has come. We are confident that the voters will stand by those elected officials who do the right thing," the letter states.

Those signing the letter did so as individuals and not necessarily as representatives of their organizations.

Steven Goldstein, chair of gay rights advocacy group Garden State Equality said the letter shows how "profoundly important" the bill is to the party base.

"Too many leaders of the New Jersey Democratic Party are living in 1949," he said. "There aren’t many state Democratic parties in the country where the rank and file members are so far ahead of the party leaders."

He also said "senators like Steve Sweeney and Paul Sarlo need to be for the bill."

Sweeney (D-Gloucester), the incoming Senate president, has said it would be irresponsible for the Democrats to bring it to a vote if they’re not sure it will pass. Sarlo (D-Bergen), who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, previously said he would not stand in the way of the bill if there were enough votes supporting it. Neither senator returned calls for comment today.

Tonight, the state Republican Party adopted an official platform on same-sex marriage, saying voters -- and not legislators during a lame-duck session -- should decide the issue.

"Any change in the law, whether there’s a strengthening of the present law or a change in the definition of the word marriage, should be put to the voters," party chairman and Assemblyman Jay Webber (R-Morris) said before the decision.

"I oppose it and I think it’s the wrong thing to do. Beyond that, I don’t have a vote in the matter," he said.

John Tomicki of the Coalition to Preserve and Protect Marriage called the Democrats’ letter "a desperate attempt" to garner votes for the bill. He said legislators he’s spoken with recently have not changed their minds.

"I do not believe that there is the support in the full Legislature to pass a homosexual nuptial statute," Tomicki said.

Six weeks remain in the legislative session. The measure, S1967/A2978, requires passage by the judiciary committees of both the Assembly and Senate before it can be voted upon. Gov. Jon Corzine has said he would sign a same-sex marriage bill.

Assembly Speaker Joe Roberts today highlighted the need for the Democratic Party to talk about the legislation.

"The opinions of our fellow Democrats certainly mean a lot to us, but as I’ve made clear, we need to have a full discussion on this issue as a caucus before we decide how to proceed," he said.